


The Hanged Man

by thethickofit



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28160985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thethickofit/pseuds/thethickofit
Summary: The Hanged Man: Depicts an image of a man being hanged upside-down by one ankle. Possible meanings: wisdom, sacrifice, letting go.Johnny can feel it- V’s neurons slowly but surely getting killed and overwritten, a fucked up type of apoptosis that blurs the lines between where V stops and Johnny begins.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand & V
Comments: 7
Kudos: 100





	The Hanged Man

“The fuck’s gotten into you,” says Johnny. He materializes in the edges of V's vision, leaning against a shipping crate. 

V barely notices. He’s got a Valentino kneeling on the ground before him, has Johnny’s pistol pressed up against his forehead, execution-style. V does a scan. His name is Luis, he’s 25 years old, wanted for the murder of his own infant child. 

"Beg for your life,” V says. 

“Shit,” Johnny mutters to himself.

Louis is trembling, hunched over and babbling at V’s feet. “Don’t do this. _Señor Jesús, ayúdame,_ don’t do this.” 

“Yeah? Why shouldn’t I?” V snaps. 

“This is unnecessary!” Johnny yells. “Jesus Christ, you’ve already stolen the data and killed the rest of his chooms, just knock him out and get the fuck out of here.”

The pistol in V’s hand feels suddenly heavy. Johnny’s right. 

He hates it when Johnny’s right.

He flips the pistol, slams the butt of it against Louis’s temple. V does another scan. He’s still breathing, still alive. 

He turns towards Johnny. "Happy now?" V breathes, but he's already gone.

=====

V’s behavior has been changing. Johnny realizes this quickly enough. He’s been getting- urges. Acting more violent. More reckless. Telling that Valentino to beg for his life- V would never do that himself in a million years. The real V takes no joy in killing. 

But Johnny does.

Johnny can feel it- V’s neurons slowly but surely getting killed and overwritten, a fucked up type of apoptosis that blurs the lines between where V stops and Johnny begins. 

=====

“It’s your fault that I’m like this,” V says aloud. 

Johnny materializes next to him. He’s unusually quiet, like he’s actually taking the time to say the right thing instead of spitting out whatever he thinks of first.

They're in V's apartment. They're spending the night here for the first time in ages after weeks of attempting to track down leads that ultimately went nowhere. He's exhausted. He sits on the edge of his bed, hunched over and head in between his knees. He’s had a headache for weeks. 

“I know,” Johnny says finally. “I know.”

“I don’t know what to do,” V whimpers, and finally, finally, breaks down. He spreads out on his bed, head throbbing. There’s an ever-present soreness behind his right ear, right where the chip is slotted in, a constant reminder that he’s really, truly, fucked.

Johnny watches him cry. For the very first time, he gives V a look of sympathy, pity. Wordlessly, he flickers away.

V never asked for this shit- this death sentence, to have his very being be slowly stipped away from him until he'll cease to exist at all. He rolls over and punches the wall. Once, twice, three times, on and on and on until his knuckles are bleeding raw and he's reached some type of temporary catharsis.

He falls asleep sometime later, his entire body numb and exhausted.

He doesn't dream.


End file.
